Small business operators still feel crunch from Canada Post strike

Crafters and small business owners who depend on online sales are still feeling the crunch of the recent Canada Post strike.

Roslyn Sambles, the owner and operator of A Little Bit of Heaven, sells her crystal bracelets on Etsy, an e-commerce website. She said her orders are down 25 per cent this season.

"It's been a little rough with the a postal strike going on," she said. "Not many people want to order so it's been rough."

Sambles is a stay-at-home mother of three living in the Fredericton area. Her business supplements her husband's income.

Strike had impact on online sales

She believes the dip in sales is a direct result of a strike that saw workers off the job on a rotating basis.

A recent survey by retail analysts at DIG360 found that 27 per cent of adult Canadians reduced their spending online this year because of the strike.

Sambles said that her packages usually arrive anywhere in Canada within a week and two at the most when they're going to the U.S.

She said they're taking at least a week longer to arrive and that she's had to rely more on her sales at craft fairs.

"Now that the postal strike is over, it is starting to pick up a little bit more, but people are still iffy because there's such a backlog," she said.

In a statement updating customers, Canada Post said that incoming holiday parcel volumes are down from 2017.

Canada Post said that operations are beginning to catch up for the first time since November, though backlogs are still a significant problem and delivery continues to be unpredictable.

No one at Canada Post was available to speak to CBC.